James Middleton
Sir James Edward Middleton, 4th Baronet, DSO & One Bar, MC & One Bar (October 4, 1918 - September 29, 2007) was a British Army officer who served during World War II, the Korean War, the Cyprus Emergency, and the Aden Emergency. Early life and family Middleton was born on October 4, 1918 into the Middleton Baronetcy of Witney, West Oxfordshire. His family, which had gained their peerage in 1821, had a long and distinguished history of service in the British Army. His father, Sir Nicholas Oliver Middleton, 3rd Baronet (1890-1940), had served in World War I as a chaplain from 1914 to 1916 when a serious wound from a shell fragment had sent him home. Upon returning, he became a Church of England priest and served for many years as the vicar of the Holy Trinity Parish Church in Witney. After completing primary and secondary education, Middleton sat the exam for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, after which he was officially commissioned into the British Army as a Lieutenant on May 10, 1939. Military service World War II Lieutenant Middleton was assigned to command an infantry platoon, part of No. 2 Company, 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards. Joining his unit on July 2 at Chelsea Barracks in London, Middleton began training with his men. Exercises continued until the battalion was completely motorized and fully equipped. On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany launched its blitzkrieg attack on Poland, prompting immediate declarations of war from Great Britain and France. The battalion was organized into the 7th Guards Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, which departed England for France on September 29. As part of the British Expeditionary Force, the Coldstream Guards moved around the country before settling into their billets in a village near Roubaix, not far from the border with Belgium. Here, the front was quiet for several months as the guardsmen held the northern sector of the Maginot Line throughout the Phony War. Shortly after the new year, Middleton learned that his father had died and he had succeeded him as 4th Baronet Middleton. On May 10, 1940, the Germans invaded the low countries, initiating the Battle of France. Middleton was at the time being transferred to the 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry of the 151st Infantry Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, where he commanded a platoon in No. 1 Company. The division moved immediately to Ypres, where they held the line against the German attack in the Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal. Middleton's battalion was selected to make a counterattack in the Battle of Arras, during which they threw back the Germans and completed their objectives only to be driven back again. With nowhere left to go, the 50th Infantry Division withdrew to their perimeter around the port of Dunkirk. Middleton and his men blunted near-constant German attacks in the Battle of Dunkirk until they were finally forced onto the beaches, wherupon they were evacuated on June 1 in Operation Dynamo, or the Dunkirk Evacuation. Back home, Lieutenant Middleton and his unit prepared to meet the planned German invasion of Great Britain, or Operation Sea Lion. The men continued training and participated in extensive exercises until May 23, 1941, when the division sailed to North Africa to join the ongoing campaign. Middleton and his men first went into action in November 1941 when they fought the German Afrika Korps and the Italians around the Gazala line in Libya. In May 1942, the Germans and Italians attacked in the Battle of Gazala, during which the 151st Brigade was encircled. Lieutenant Middleton led his men in a breakout, during which they broke through Axis lines to reach friendly positions. The British were attacked again in June at the Battle of Mersa Matruh, where Middleton's battalion fought hard but were forced to retreat, having suffered heavily, back to the Alamein line in Egypt. After a period of rest and refit, the 50th Division was back in the fight in July, where Middleton's company fought a desperate but losing counterattack during the First Battle of El Alamein. Later, in October, the brigade was detached and set to attack the enemy positions during the major counteroffensive known as the Second Battle of El Alamein. After a series of fruitless attacks, the brigade broke through the German lines in Operation Supercharge. The offensive had pushed the Germans and Italians out of Egypt, but the cost had been high, and Lieutenant Middleton and his men were relieved in November. March 1943 saw the 50th Division advancing into Tunisia, where Middleton's battalion took part in an attack on Axis strongholds in the Battle of the Mareth Line. They drove back the Italians manning the line, but were forced back by a German counterattack. Though Middleton's attack was not successful, the offensive broke the Mareth Line and the Axis forces in North Africa capitulated on May 13, 1943. James Middleton was soon after promoted to Captain and was given command of No. 1 Company, as well as being awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his actions at El Alamein. The division's next assignment was Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. The 6th Battalion was selected to make the first assault, with Captain Middleton's unit leading. Middleton's men landed on the beach at Avola on July 10, 1943, sweeping aside local Italian resistance and continuing inland to their objectives. On the way, they met much tougher resistance from German troops, but the 151st Brigade kept pushing and by August had secured Catatina by the time the fighting on the island ended with an Allied victory on August 17. The 50th Division, instead of pressing on to mainland Italy, was returned to England in November 1943 in order to prepare for the invasion of Normandy. On June 6, 1944, Operation Overlord began. Captain Middleton and his men landed on the Normandy Coast at Gold Beach. Leading his company, Middleton attacked up the beach and into France. Later in the month they participated in Operation Perch, advancing through the bocage and driving the Germans out of Verrières. Heavy fighting continued, with a stalemate setting in until July, when Operation Bluecoat was launched as a breakout attempt. Middleton's men attacked again, gradually reducing the Falaise Pocket throughout August until the Germans had been driven completely out of Normandy and then France entirely. They crossed the Seine later that month and reached Belgium in September, where they had a breif respite in Brussels. The 50th Division then was selected to take part in the ground offensive of Operation Market Garden, the drive into the Netherlands. The 151st Brigade advanced, with Middleton's battalion committing itself to the Battle of Geel. Once the Germans had been pushed out of the town, the brigade continued to Nijmegen, where they dug in and repulsed multiple heavy German attacks. Finally, after being relieved, the 50th Division was set to return to England in December. Captain Middleton, however, was again transferred to the 9th Battalion, Durham Light infantry, which was itself being transferred to the 131st Infantry Brigade of the 7th Armoured Division. In January 1945, Middleton was back in the fight. Commanding the battalion's No. 3 Company, took part in Operation Blackcock, clearing the Roer Triangle in Germany. After a rest in February, the 131st Brigade crossed the Rhine in March in Operation Plunder, advancing deeper into Germany. Pushing forward, the 7th Armoured Division encountered one of the last bastions of major German resistance, for which Middleton's company was selected to deal with. The Battle of Hamburg, Captain Middleton's last action of the war, ended in victory with the brigade crossing the Elbe and finally entering the city. The division then drove unopposed to the city of Lübeck, when, on May 8, 1945, Germany had finally surrendered. Occupation of Germany After the war, Middleton was promoted and sent to serve in the headquarters of the British zone of occupied Germany. He saw numerous different assignments from 1945 to 1950, including several postings to the British sector of occupied Berlin, where he stood ready to help repel a Soviet invasion. Korean War On July 27, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, prompting immediate military action from the allies. Middleton was requested personally to join the staff of the 27th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade, Britain's answer to the invasion. The brigade was immediately thrown into action once it arrived in August, and Middleton saw combat in the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, repulsing the North Korean troops in a month-long fight to hold on to a corner of the Korean peninsula. When the counteroffensive wat launched, the 27th Brigade advanced with the rest of the United Nations forces north over the partition line towards the Yalu River. Middleton, though a lower-ranking staff officer, saw his fair share of combat against the North Koreans. In October 1950, Communist China intervened in the war, and thousands of Chinese troops pushed the UN forces back. In the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River, Middleton and the brigade were forced out of North Korea entirely. In the Third Battle of Seoul, Middleton's brigade fought a delaying action against the Chinese to facilitate a safe withdrawl from the southern capital. Not content to simply retreat, the 27th Brigade took part in a massive counteroffensive in 1951. The British fought back the Chinese and North Koreans in a series of engagements, retaking the capital in the Fourth Battle of Seoul. In April, Middleton, attached to the 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, helped hold off several major Chinese attacks in the Battle of Kapyong. By July 1951, the front had stabilized on the 38th Parallel. The 1st Commonwealth Division was formed, and the 27th Brigade was replaced by the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade, to which Middleton was subsequently assigned. For the next two years, a stalemate took hold and large-scale advances became impossible. The 28th Brigade's first battle during this period was Operation Minden, followed by Operation Commando, where the British fought to extend the line in the Imjin River area. 1951 and 1952 passed, without much ground either lost or gained by the UN forces. In October 1952, Middleton's brigade took charge of the right flank of an area called the Hook. Little happened in this sector until the end of the war, with the exception of occasional raids on Communist positions. However, in July 1953, just before the armistice, the 28th Brigade repulsed a significant Chinese attack in the Battle of the Samichon River. After the peace talks had been completed, James Middleton remained in Korea, guarding the demilitarized zone. In 1954, the 1st Commonwealth Division, along with the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade, was disbanded, and Middleton returned home. Cyprus Emergency, Aden Emergency, and the Cold War After a year at home in England, Major James Middleton was called to duty in 1955 to the British colony of Cyprus, where an insurgency by the nationalist EOKA guerilla group was then ongoing. From Nicosia, Middleton helped direct anti-insurgent operations, occasionally taking part. He was on the ground for Operation Lucky Alphonse, an action in 1956 which destroyed an EOKA cell in the Troodos Mountains. Middleton remained in Cyprus until 1959. In 1961, In the wake of the Berlin Crisis, Major Middleton was again sent to Germany. He assisted in occupation duties in both Berlin and the larger British sector of the country until 1964. In November 1964, Major Middleton's service was again requested. In the British protectorate of Aden, another insurgency was developing. The Communist Yemeni National Liberation Front had carried out terrorist actions in the city, leading to a gradual deployment of British troops. Middleton joined the 24th Infantry Brigade Group, and by the end of the year was coordinating anti-terrorist operations, mostly in the Radfan region of the country. The conflict came to a head in January 1967, when the Aden Street Riots were provoked by the NLF. Middleton saw combat against NLF guerrillas in the city, and later in June during a large-scale police revolt. After a tentative victory against the terrorists in the Battle of the Crater, the NLF stepped up their attacks, and a withdrawal was set for November 1967. As the British Armed Forced vacated the country, the People's Republic of South Yemen was established and a definitive victory by the NLF was attained. In October 1968, Major James Edward Middleton retired from the British Army. After a long and exemplary service, during which he had recieved many awards for valor as well as personal commendations from his senior officers, he returned home to England. Later life In 1968, James Middleton moved to Lambeth, London, where he would live until his death in 2007. In 1970, he married his long-time partner Lilly White. They had one daughter, Alice Middleton, the next year. In 1971, he became a member of the Royal British Legion, and donated much of his estate to military charities in his later life. On September 29, 2007, five days before his 89th birthday, Middleton died of heart disease in a London hospital. Views James Middleton was a staunch Conservative for most of his life. He was a supporter of Winston Churchill during both the war and the post-war years. He was a defender of the British Empire, and initially opposed independence for India (although he reversed his position some years after the partition). He supported Anthony Eden's use of military force during the Suez Crisis, and denounced the lack of support from the United States as a betrayal. Middleton was a supporter of Margaret Thatcher in the 1970s and 1980s, though he became less politically active in his later life. Middleton, raised and baptised Anglican, was a devout Christian and attended regular Church of England services until his death. Awards and decorations First Distinguished Service Order citation Lieutenant Sir James Edward Middleton, 4th Baronet Middleton of Witney, 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. El Alamein, Egypt, 2 November 1942. (DSO Gazetted December 19, 1942) Bar to Distinguished Service Order citation Captain Sir James Edward Middleton, 4th Baronet Middleton of Witney, 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. Verrières, France, 14 June 1944. (Bar to DSO Gazetted July 9, 1944) First Military Cross citation Captain Sir James Edward Middleton, 4th Baronet Middleton of Witney, 6th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry. Gheel, Belgium, 11 September 1944. (MC Gazetted November 18, 1944) Bar to Military Cross citation Captain Sir James Edward Middleton, 4th Baronet Middleton of Witney, temporarily attached to 1st Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Near Seoul, South Korea, 3 January 1951. (Bar to MC Gazetted March 11, 1951) Equipment Middleton used a Lee Enfield No.1 Mk.III* rifle during the fighting in Europe in 1940, as well as in North Africa and Sicily until 1943. Upon his return to England, he was issued the updated Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.I model, which he used until the end of the war, the occupation of Germany, and the Korean War. He also used the rifle's No.4 Mk.II bayonet as well as the No.4 grenade launcher in some instances. His sidearm was an Enfield No.2 Mk I* revolver, and he carried with him the Mills No.36M Mk.I fragmentation grenade, as well as the No.77 smoke grenade. In 1954, Middleton was issued an L1A1 self-loading rifle as well as the weapon's L1 bayonet, which he used in Cyprus, Germany, and Aden until his retirement in 1970. In the late 1960s, he also acquired an L9A1 automatic pistol, a British copy of the Browning Hi-Power. He used the L2 fragmentation grenade and American M18 colored smoke grenades during this period as well.Category:Soldiers in World War II Category:Soldiers in the Korean War Category:British soldiers Category:British Commonwealth soldiers Category:Soldiers in the Cyprus Emergency